Pilgrimage for Peace and Justice 2019-2020

These are the passionate voices of four, 13-year-old girls talking about their wish for peace.
What they hope and work for is the realization of a world where all beings are respected.
Yuki Okada from Nagasaki, Manikanit Mestokosho from the Innu First Nations of Canada, Janna Ibrahim from Bethlehem and Yasmine Abouzaglo from Dallas, USA represent the fervent wish of the next generation for a bright future without nuclear weapons.

Accompanied by Setsuko Thurlow, a Hibakusha (nuclear bomb survivor) who receive Peace Nobel Prize 2017 as beghalf of ICAN, and Clifton Truman Daniel (Grand son of formal president of United States, Harry S Truman ), four girls from different nations and religions would like to bring the Peace Flame of Hiroshima to His Holiness Pope Francis, at the Vatican together with the Hibaku Maria, the Madonna statue of Nagasaki that miraculously survived the nuclear bombing and pray together with our Holy Father for Peace and Justice.

Setsuko Thurlow received the Nobel prize in 2017 on behalf of ICAN-International Campaign on Abolishment of Nuclear Weapons, and spoke at the UN in 2017 about the need to ban nuclear weapons.

The Earth Caravan in 2020

The intention of the Earth Caravan pilgrimage in 2020 is to raise awareness worldwide about the situation of children who live under unacceptable circumstances, under occupation, war or are refugees. Peace Cycling, Concerts and Festivals will take place all around the world leading the Earth Caravan from Hiroshima to Nagasaki, from Toronto to the villages of the First Nations Natasquan and Mingan to continue to Vienna and Srebrenica and to His Holiness Pope Francis in Vatican.

In 2020, the Earth Caravan is organizing in cooperation with the Holy Land Trust a peace festival and peace conference in Bethlehem with children and artists from around the world with the Peace Flame.

Satoshi Suzuki, a Japanese filmmaker and a member of the famous commercial company, Dentsu will make a documentary film about this peace festival and conference. The theme will be the impact youth have on the future of our world.

The Peace Flame of Hiroshima

The Peace Flame is an actual flame which Tatsuo Yamamoto took from the embers of the fire following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on the 6th of August, 1945. He carried it to his hometown, Hoshino village in Yame city, Fukuoka.

The flame has been kept alive in the village as a symbol of peace and remains lit in the town’s Peace Tower until now.

Setsuko Thurlow

She was born January 3, 1932 and was exposed to radiation approximately 1.8 kilometers from the hypocentre of the blast. Eight of her family members and 351 of her schoolmates and teachers were killed in the attack.

After World War II, she moved to Canada after studying in the USA, and is a leading figure in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)".

She gave a speech on behalf of ICAN at the award ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 in Oslo.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons - ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

It was reported that her many speeches at the United Nations have brought diplomats to tears and strengthened their personal resolve to eliminate the nuclear menace.

Her many presentations at schools, as part of the New York-based Hibakusha Stories project, have had a profound impact on the lives of thousands of students.

For her work to achieve a more peaceful and just world, she has received numerous honors, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012.

The city of Hiroshima designated her a “peace ambassador” in 2014 and the Arms Control Association (ACA), one of the American think tanks in Washington, named her “arms control person of the year” for 2015.

After that, she has received the Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize for the year 2016.

Clifton Truman Daniel

Author, former journalist with the New York Times, and peace activist. Mr. Truman Daniel is the grandson of former President of United States, Harry S. Truman. Since visiting Nagasaki and Hiroshima, he has been working to tell the stories of nuclear bomb survivors to the public in the United States.

The 13-Year Old Girl delegation

Yuki Okada (Nagasaki)

Born in Nagasaki. A student of Junshin Catholic Junior high school, where 214 of teachers and students were killed by the atomic bomb dropped on the city in 1945. Yuki is a third generation survivor, which means that her grandparents survived the bomb, but suffered cruelly from the nuclear catastrophe.

Manikanit Mestokosho (the First Nations of Canada)

Born in a Canadian Native Inuit Settlement.
She has been learning singing and dancing to inherit the tradition of Inuit culture.
At the same time, she is a 13 year old girl who has an modern outlook on life and loves badminton.

Janna Ibrahim (Bethlehem)

Born in the USA. She is currently living in a Palestinian village, located about 2 hours from Bethlehem. Facing everyday live under occupation makes her commitment for peace and non-violence, a safe future and equal rights for all naturally strong.

Yasmine Abouzaglo (Jewish American)

Yasmine was born and raised in the Modern Orthodox Jewish community in Dallas, Texas, USA. Her father is Israeli and her mother from Costa Rica. Her older brother, Amitai, is active in American Friends of Combatants For Peace US (http://cfpeace.org/), a network including former Israeli soldiers that aims to create peace in Israel and Palestine, which is a candidate for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Earth Caravan

The Earth Caravan is a global interfaith pilgrimage dedicated to peace, healing and justice for the most traumatic places on our planet.

Since 2015 the Earth Caravan has travelled from Nagasaki to Hiroshima, from Auschwitz to Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina and to Serbia, and from the First Nations of Canada to Israel and Palestine.

Every year prayers and activities of the Earth Caravan inspire thousands of people all around the globe to work for the bright future we share.

Peace is established only when people overcome differences of race, country, religion, and ethnicity. We believe that it is critical for Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and indigenous peoples to pray and work together, connect, and deepen our shared bonds to establish lasting and true friendships.

The Earth Caravan aims to create a world of loving communities that take care of each other and take responsibility for other people’s happiness.